On Saturday, July 30th, the Arashi-Do Martial Arts Rocky Mountain House Summer BBQ was a smashing success! Hosted by our own Melissa with a assist from Darla, good food cookery from Renshi Russ, and the food and company contributions of our members, this was a great time! A special visit with Kyoshi Mike and his family helped make this day even more fantastic. We can not wait for the next Arashi-Do Rocky event! A special thank you to Melissa for hosting and to Darla for the help!

Mestre Sylvio da Matta Behring, our BJJ guide and mentor for over a decade, paid his semi annual viist to our Red Deer school in April. An instructors seminar was followed by a grading of all of our Red Deer and Central Alberta area BJJ students and a student seminar.

Summer is traditionally a time of exploration, loose bedtimes, warm nights and cool (hopefully) mornings, vacation and playing! Summer is game nights, family camping, roasted marshmallows and star gazing, and more than anything else it is that time when you can let go of some of the stresses of everyday life and relax. Summer is also one of the best times to start your martial arts journey!

A tournament can be fun, competitive, and affirm your skills and development as a martial artist. The Samurai Sword Series 4, Calgary, was definitely fun, competitive, and affirming!! The fourth in a five part series of tournaments for our Calgary and Cochrane locations, this tournament was a special challenge as there were so many students who were brand new and had never participated in a tournament. Every one of the competitors was an example of good sportsmanship, courage, and skill development across the martial arts continuum.

The martial arts have been around for centuries and many people from many different backgrounds have trained in martial arts. This trend is not just local but is in fact global. With the growth and popularity of mixed martial arts and martial arts in general in national and world wide competitions (i.e., The Olympics), showcasing many different martial arts, more parents are interested and becoming involved and are looking for their children to become involved. One result of the growth of martial arts as an industry is the perpetuation of many different schools offering many different styles, curriculums, and structures.

So, what do you look for in the school that is right for you and for your child?